>> WE’RE LIVE AT 5:00 WITH CORONAVIRUS TEAM COVERAGE. AIXA DIAZ HAS THE WHITE HOUSE’S MULTI BILLION DOLLAR DEMAND PREPARE FOR WIDESPREAD OUTBREAK. >> BUT FIRST, UNMC SAYS IT’S TESTING A DRUG TO FIGHT COVID-19. THANK YOU FOR JOINING US TONIGHT. I’M ALEXANDRA STONE. DAVID: I’M DAVID EARL. DOCTORS SAY THERE’S AN URGENT NEED FOR A SAFE TREAMENT FOR COVID-19. NEBRASKA MEDICINE IS THE FIRST TO TEST A DRUG THAT COULD HE PATIENTS BATTLE OF THE BULGE. ALEXANDRA: KETV NEWSWATCH 7’S JOSE ZOZAYA IS LIVE AT UNMC WITH MORE ON THE CLINICAL TRIAL. >> THE DOCTOR LEADING THE EFFORT HERE SAYS HE THINKS THIS IS THE FASTEST ROLLOUT FOR THIS KIND OF CLINICAL DRUG TRIAL IN U.S. HISTORY. IT IS A RACE AGAINST TIME TO CONTROL AND TREAT COVID-19. DOCTOR ANDRE KALIL AT NEBRASKA MEDICINE WILL LEAD THE STUDY RUN BY THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH. >> NORMALLY, IT TAKES MONTHS AND MONTHS FOR THESE TRIALS TO BE UP AND RUNNING, AND NOW WE’RE TALKING ABOUT WEEKS. >> AMONG THE 14 AMERICANS EVACUEES QUARANTINED IN OMAHA 12 , TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19. UNMC SAYS ONE OF THEM VOLUNTEERED TO BE THE FIRST PERSON IN THIS EXPERIMENTAL TRIAL. KALIL SAYS ANY PARTICIPANT WILL HAVE TO SHOW SEVERE SYMPTOMS. >> TO BE ENROLLED IN THE TRIAL, THEY WOULD HAVE TO HAVE THE CORONOAVIRUS TEST POSITIVE AND THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE SIGNS OF LUNG INFECTION THAT IT’S LIKE SIGNS OF PNEUMONIA. >> THE TRIAL DRUG IS REMDESIVI FIRST TESTED ON PEOPLE WITH THE EBOLA VIRUS. KALIL STRESSES HOW CRUCIAL IT IS THE STUDY IS DOUBLE BLIND. NEITHER DOCTORS NOR PATIENTS WILL KNOW WHO GETS THE DRUG OR THE PLACEBO. >> HUMAN BEINGS TEND TO BE ALWAYS ANXIOUS TO KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING AND IT’S PART OF THE WAY THAT WE ARE. IN ORDER TO AVOID ALL TYPES OF BIASES IN THIS STUDY, THAT’S WHY DOUBLE BLIND IS SO IMPORTANT. >> KALIL SAYS THE NIH PLANS TO EXPAND THIS TRIAL ON A GLOBAL SCALE AS THE POTENTIAL FOR A PANDEMIC GROWS. >> THERE’S INFECTIONS IN SOUTH KOREA, SINGAPORE, JAPAN, IRA SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES, NOW IN ITALY. WE’RE GOING TO GO OUTSIDE AND TRY TO GET AS MANY SITES AS WE CAN TO BE PARTICIPATING IN THIS TRIAL. >> THE DOCTOR SAYS PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE AN IV ONCE A DAY FOR 10 DAYS. AFTER THAT, HE SAYS IT’LL TAKE 15 DAYS TO SEE IF THE DRUG IS WOR

A clinical trial for a drug to treat COVID-19, or coronavirus, has begun at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.The trial regulatory sponsor is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. This is the first clinical trial in the United States to evaluate an experimental treatment for COVID-19, the respiratory disease first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The randomized, controlled clinical trial of the investigational antiviral remdesivir is being tested by hospitalized adults diagnosed with coronavirus disease. Remdesivir is an investigational broad-spectrum antiviral treatment.The first trial participant is an American who was brought to Omaha after being quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that docked in Yokohama, Japan and volunteered to participate in the study.There are no specific therapeutics approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat people with COVID-19.As of Feb. 24, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 77,262 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2,595 deaths in China and 2,069 cases of COVID-19 and 23 deaths in 29 other countries. There have been 14 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the United States and an additional 39 cases among persons repatriated to the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Dr. Andre Kalil, the infectious diseases specialist and professor of internal medicine who is leading the first clinical trial for the first drug to treat COVID-19, spoke to the media and answered questions in the video below: Kalil said the goal for the trial is to test 400 patients. The patients will be given the drug within 72 hours of diagnosis. The trial will be international but is beginning in Nebraska. Half of the patients will be given the drug and half will be given a placebo. "We should have the results in a year or even less ... at least the preliminary results," he said. "In order to be in the trial, they need to be a little sicker than a mild disease," Kalil said, adding that candidates should have pneumonia in the lungs or lung infection. "The goal here is to help the people who need it the most," he said.

OMAHA, Neb. —

A clinical trial for a drug to treat COVID-19, or coronavirus, has begun at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

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The trial regulatory sponsor is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. This is the first clinical trial in the United States to evaluate an experimental treatment for COVID-19, the respiratory disease first detected in December 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China.

The randomized, controlled clinical trial of the investigational antiviral remdesivir is being tested by hospitalized adults diagnosed with coronavirus disease. Remdesivir is an investigational broad-spectrum antiviral treatment.

The first trial participant is an American who was brought to Omaha after being quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that docked in Yokohama, Japan and volunteered to participate in the study.

There are no specific therapeutics approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat people with COVID-19.

As of Feb. 24, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 77,262 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 2,595 deaths in China and 2,069 cases of COVID-19 and 23 deaths in 29 other countries. There have been 14 confirmed COVID-19 cases reported in the United States and an additional 39 cases among persons repatriated to the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Dr. Andre Kalil, the infectious diseases specialist and professor of internal medicine who is leading the first clinical trial for the first drug to treat COVID-19, spoke to the media and answered questions in the video below:

Kalil said the goal for the trial is to test 400 patients. The patients will be given the drug within 72 hours of diagnosis.

The trial will be international but is beginning in Nebraska. Half of the patients will be given the drug and half will be given a placebo.

"We should have the results in a year or even less ... at least the preliminary results," he said.

"In order to be in the trial, they need to be a little sicker than a mild disease," Kalil said, adding that candidates should have pneumonia in the lungs or lung infection.